Jan Havicksz Steen: Portrait of Adolf and Catharina Croeser (aka The Burgomaster of Delft and his Daughter), (1655)

(Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands)

This is a famous painting from Jan Steen from the period he was living in Delft. For a long time the title of this painting was "The Burgomaster of Delft and his daughter" but after an extensive research the names of the sitting man and the girl have been found. Nowadays it is assumed that the person sitting is the wealthy grain merchant Adolf Croeser and that the girl is his daughter Catharina. Both of them are in the front of their house while a woman and child are begging for alms. The subject would be repeated some years later when Jan Steen was in serious debt when his brewery "De Roscam" failed to make a profit and Adolf Croeser came to the rescue of Jan Steen. The setting of the painting is also near the brewery with the old church of Delft in the back. Painting from 1655.